moving! rental questions/advice? (Seattle: sublets, apartments, rental market)

[alt587]

Hi! I'm going to be moving to Seattle for a job and have a few specific rental-related questions:

1) Is apartment/house-sharing a thing? Or do most young people have their own place?

I'm used to cities where sharing is basically a necessity. But I also think it's kind of nice when moving to a new city, since once you're in a share you know some people and can meet more people that way. I was very confused when I searched (craigslist) for shares in a popular neighborhood (capitol hill) and came up with just 68 results (with a good percentage of spam, of course). Is sharing just not very popular? Am I going to have to settle for a lonely studio?

2) What's the pace of the rental market?

I've lived in places where you can find a place and move in just days later, as well as in cities where you can and should find a place several months before you need to move in. What's the deal with Seattle?

3) How do you suggest I go about finding a place?

I think there are two main options here:
a) Set up temporary accommodation and then search for a place after I've already moved to the city
b) Travel out there for a few days with some appointments set up, and hope that I can secure a place within that short time frame

I would personally prefer b), but it is definitely a lot of pressure. Is it practical to secure a place after just a few days of viewings? I also need to know about the pace of the rental market, since I would only be able to make the trip about a week before I have to move. If I manage to secure a place, would it be reasonable to expect to move in within 1-2 weeks?

4) Where should I live?

The fun one! From some basic research I think these areas sound great: Lower Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, First Hill; but then there are a few others that look interesting but I can't totally tell whether they'd fit me: Fremont, Belltown, South Lake, East Lake. Your thoughts on these? Am I missing any cool neighborhoods?

^For this, it would help to know a bit about me:
-mid 20s,NY native, London transplant, moving transatlantic+cross country to work at Nordstrom!
-budget max 1400, preferably <1200, cheaper is better of course, but neighborhood is important to me
-no car, love public transport and walkability
-favorite city neighborhoods - downtown NY and east London
-likes art/fashion/food/music, I think you get it...I hope?

Moving to Seattle is a huge deal for me...it was not the plan and I'm definitely going to miss my big cities, but this as dream job as an entry-level job can get, so I've made the decision to go for it! Would love your advice on how to make it go well!

[CrazyDonkey]

Lots of people are using room-shares, in that it might be the only way they can afford to live in an area as expensive as Capitol Hill, so demand can outrun supply. Some are filled by word of mouth, community bulletin boards, etc.

While you can do a search on "Capitol Hill" on Craigslist, that'll only show up if in the title. If misspelled ("Capital Hill"), it won't show up. If "Pike/Pine", "Broadway", "Volunteer Park", "Interlaken", it won't show up. Areas close to Capitol Hill, such as "First Hill", "Central District", "Cherry Hill", etc., won't show up.

Better to just select "Seattle" and then zoom in on the area you're interested in in the map view.

Also, check Sublets & Temporary, which can include some room-shares.

[Hemlock140]

We have a mix of very high paid tech workers that can afford a $3,000/mo 1 bedroom apartment and people that make less and share to afford their half of an $1,800 2 bedroom. I hear stories from people on City Data and coworkers about taking several months to find an apartment. In some cases people from other states will pay a year in advance over the asking rent to get a place. We definitely have more people coming here than vacancies. I would plan to stay at a motel for more than a week or two, you will have to be very lucky to find something that quickly. Most of the people I know that recently rented found the place by driving around. Many landlords do not bother listing it anywhere, because they get plenty of applicants from word of mouth. You see someone moving out and stop, ask them for the landlord's number. In some cases they will just pop a sign in the window and get 25 people applying.

I know a couple of people working there. If you can find something close to the main bus routes, light rail line, or monorail, the offices are just a couple of blocks from Westlake Tunnel Station. Capitol Hill is very popular, and therefore expensive. For more affordable while walkable look at Northgate, Wallingford, Columbia City.

[CrazyDonkey]

One issue is that apartments are heavily concentrated in certain areas, while other neighborhoods are highly residential (few apartments). Increasingly, multi-bedroom apartments (and some houses) within the core neighborhoods that used to be shared are being grabbed up by professional couples or young families who are willing to pay $750-1,000/per bedroom. Most individuals looking for room-shares are looking to pay $500-750/per bedroom.

I used to share a 2-bedroom apartment on the west side of Queen Anne Hill. If anyone tried to bribe me (pay above the asking price) to get the room, that automatically disqualified them with me. I was primarily concerned with finding someone who was stable and employed, and would be a good roommate - friendly, interesting, responsive, cooperative, communicative, clean up after themselves, and not be paranoid psycho weirdos.

[alt587]

Thank you all for your advice, I am definitely getting a clearer picture!